Looking forward..looking backward

2013 is going to be very different than any of the previous years.  This is not as much a prediction, as a realization that changes are happening much faster than ever before; the world is moving at a pace which many of us are unable to keep up with.  Here are a few things which I believe are revolutionizing the way we will view our world in the coming year.

1.  People Voice vs. Political Power: Even democracies which pretended to represent its people have gradually moved away from listening to the very same people who elected them.  People all over the world have begun finding their voice, whether it is in the Jasmine Revolution in Middle East and Africa, or the Spanish people's protests, or the Anna-Kejriwal lead multiple anti-corruption morchas.  These are reminders that somewhere these voices are being muted, muzzled, lost in the wilderness.  These voices will now continue to echo again and again, until they are heeded to, Governments will need to start listening to the people.  

2.  The Power of Technology: Technology has played multiple roles – it has made the silent people audible, the invisible people visible, and the powerless suddenly having their voice heard.  It has also dramatically reduced the gap between those who have used brute power of money to gain popular voice, and those who have no money but have important messages to convey.  More and more, those who have something to say are being listened to, not because they are powerful, but because they make sense.  Whether Facebook and Twitter make commercial sense may be debatable but clearly they have changed the world for ever.

3.   Gaps, Distance, Frustration: While in the past, gaps were taken for granted, as a part of any system, this status quo has being questioned many times in the past few months.  In the coming times, gaps arising out of lack of communication, or responsiveness are likely to lead to heightened frustrations.  To top it all, there continues to be a blurring of lines between what consists correct and what incorrect.  So, in any debate one is likely to find as many people proposing, as opposing any sentiment.  The days of hand-down winning of one-sided debates are over.

4.  Economic Blues: The economic pain is here to stay.  For long, governments have  borrowed much more than they deliver, and these borrowings have traditionally hidden the inefficiencies of governance.  No matter whether one talks about the now averted fiscal cliff in the USA, or the pains of Euro Zone, or the fiscal deficits of India; all are due to over-governance with little accountability.  A floundering government has no ways of encouraging private enterprise, which is now beginning to show signs of fraying at the edges.

5.   Uncertainty, the new status quo: We are in the age of two minute titillation -   momentary pleasure, angers, frustrations, and then on to a new high or a new low, depending on ones’ choice.  Younger leaders, with smaller lifespans are causing greater energy dispersion with lesser satisfaction.  The younger generation is eager to adapt to the new, without completely understanding what the new direction is all about whereas the older generation tries to cling to its known paths of safety.  The young will prevail.  

And on this rather bright note, let us hope that the New Year brings in new hopes and renewed faith in the overall goodness of human kind.